Chauffeur: David Smith was found dead yesterday as he was due to stand trial for sex crimes

A former BBC driver found dead in an apparent suicide ahead of his child sex abuse trial has 'cheated' his victim of justice, a leading lawyer has today said.

The body of David Smith, 67, chauffeur to disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile and other celebrities during the 1980s, was found at his south-east London home, on Monday - the eve of his court appearance.

It has emerged the former driver was a prolific sex offender with a string of previous convictions for sexual offences against young boys, dating back to 1966, on his criminal record.

Alan Collins, a leading child abuse lawyer, acting for about 60 of Savile's victims, told the Evening Standard: 'This was the chance for the client to be vindicated and be believed, and he will feel cheated of that.

'It is a major blow for the victim, he doesn't get to see justice being done.

'Victims have a misplaced sense of guilt, for this to happen does have a major psychological impact.'

Mr Collins, of Pannone solicitors, said victims often have to psych themselves up to face their abusers at court.

He said something like the suicide of the accused could leave a victim grappling with mixed emotions, feeling a sense of guilt about what has happened.

Meanwhile Fiona Ellis, co-founder of Survivors in Transition, a group which aims to help people rebuild their lives in the wake of historic child sex abuse, said: ‘He was a coward and will never face justice.

‘He will never have to experience court or face judgement.

‘His victim is likely to have had to endure many difficult and painful interviews.

‘It is so rare that a case actually makes it to court and therefore a feeling of injustice is a big issue for the survivors of childhood sex abuse.

‘Quite often they have experienced layers of injustice throughout their life leading to deep-rooted issues around validation and belief.’

Police officers were called to Smith’s address after receiving a court summons on Monday at 1pm, when he failed to appear for trial.

A team of detectives discovered his body in his third-floor council flat in Lewisham, south-east London, shortly after breaking in at 2.20pm.

Last night a spokesman said: ‘Police attended a private address in Effingham Road, Lewisham on Monday 28 October as a man had failed to appear at Southwark Crown Court today.

‘At approximately 2.20pm officers entered the address and found the body of a man. A forensic medical examiner attended and pronounced the man dead at the scene. Next of kin are being informed.

‘Whilst officers believe they know the identity of the deceased, they await confirmation of formal identification.’

The cause of death is not yet known and the results of a post-mortem are expected imminently.

Smith, of Effingham Road, Lewisham, failed to turn up at Southwark Crown Court for the start of his trial yesterday.

He faced two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency with a child, and one of serious sexual assault, all relating to a 12-year-old boy, between June 1 and July 21, 1984. At a court appearance in July, Smith pleaded not guilty to all offences.

Judge Alastair McCreath today ordered that the file on the case should be closed.

He heard from Detective Constable Michael Wallace, the officer in the case who identified the body, that it was the same man as charged in the indictment.

Probe: Smith was the first person to be charged under Operation Yewtree, the national investigation prompted after claims were made against disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile (pictured)

The former driver was registered as a
full-time carer for his 95-year-old mother. It is understood she was not
at the flat at the time police made the discovery. She was told
of her son's death last night.

It was initially thought the bad weather resulting from the violent St Jude's storm which tore across southern
England yesterday morning, could have caused Smith's no-show at court at 10.30am yesterday.

A
warrant was issued for his arrest after defence barrister Sandy
Canavan raised concerns that her client had not appeared, without any
explanation and despite repeated attempts to contact him by phone.

She
said: ‘He has been regularly in contact, I am concerned at the lack of
contact. He is the sole carer for his very aged and very unwell mother,
that may have affected why he’s not here today.’

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Judge McCreath said: ‘He needs to be here, if his mother’s poorly or not.’

He
issued a bench warrant, backed for bail, with the condition that he
surrender to the court by 9.30am today, with the case to be listed for
10am.

Smith was the first person to
be charged under Operation Yewtree, the national investigation prompted
after claims were made against disgraced TV presenter Savile.

Convicted: David Smith had a string of past sexual offences against young boys on his criminal record

He was due to be the first of those arrested under the operation, which was launched in October last year, to face a jury.

It was said Smith met his victim at a swimming pool and invited him back to his flat where he sexually abused him.

He also took the boy on a visit to the BBC studios at White City in west London. The boy claimed he was indecently assaulted during the journey.

Smith was arrested on December 10, last year, after his victim's partner
contacted police after she saw his response to the ITV documentary
Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile - broadcast on October 3, 2012.

He was later bailed and 11 days later the case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. On April 3, following further police inquiries requested by the CPS, Smith was charged.

A
previous attempt to snare Smith in 2002 had failed when police could
not find him, despite the fact he was in prison at the time.

Smith was a prolific sex offender. His criminal record reveals 22 convictions for sexual offences against young boys dating back to the first in 1966, the BBC reported.

Scotland Yard has led the probe, separating its investigations into three strands. The first focuses on Savile's crimes, while a second relates to allegations against Savile and others.

The third strand - the one under which Smith was being investigated - concerns accusations which have emerged as a result of the publicity surrounding Savile, but which are unconnected to the pervert DJ.

Operation Yewtree was launched by police after the ITV documentary interviewed victim's of Savile's abuse.

The programme led to 600 people coming forward with information about historic cases of abuse - three-quarters of which related to Savile, who was 84 when he died in 2011.

Savile's crimes spanned 54 years and the scale of abuse was 'believed to be unprecedented in the UK'.

At the time of Smith's arrest, BBC News reported that he had worked as a driver for the broadcaster and possibly other employers.

But a BBC press office spokesman said she was unable to confirm whether he had been formally employed by the organisation, as the Corporation's records do not go back as far as 1984.

A BBC spokesman said: 'On searches carried out to date, we have not found any record of David Smith being employed by or working for the BBC.

'We have been assisting the police in relation to David Smith and will continue to do so.'

In an earlier version of this report, we incorrectly published an image of a house in South East London which we said was the home of David Smith. We are happy to clarify that this was not Mr Smith's residence and that he had no connection with it. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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